Amanda Sotelo

It was never Nelly Flores’ intent to become an educator, but through life experience and chance, the South Texas College alumna now serves as principal of R. Cavazos Elementary School in Mission.

However, it wasn’t an easy road getting there.

Growing up in a migrant family of farmworkers, Flores started working at only 8 years old. From Michigan and Indiana to Washington State, she enrolled in numerous schools, never able to settle in, because from March to October, the road was her home.

Nonetheless, despite the sacrifice, her parents always pushed the importance of an education.

“I’m proud of who I am. All my experiences have shaped who I am today – the good and the bad and taking the step toward becoming the first in my family to receive a college education, was the best decision I could have ever made,” said Flores. “It was one of my dad’s last wishes and I feel that I’ve been able to honor his name with the success I have found at STC and beyond.”

Returning to college in 2007, after earning a certificate in Accounting in 1999 from the former South Texas Community College (STCC) and a nearly eight-year hiatus from the classroom, Flores earned a bachelor’s degree in Applied Technology.

Earning a bachelor’s degree was something that Flores never imagined because in 1999, Flores, already married and growing her family, found it challenging to juggle a full-time job and child care, yet this moment also defined her future career in education.

“My intent was to become a certified public accountant, but while working in my field, I lost my child care, and I had to quit. That is when I was introduced to substitute teaching,” she said. “The hours were flexible and fit our life and schedules, so it was the best option for my family. This is when I knew, STC was about to change my life. This college gives everyone in our region a fighting change.”

During her tenure as a substitute teacher for Mission CISD, she grew to earn the trust of the receptionists and secretaries, and one day it was her skills in creating sign-in sheets through Excel that impressed school staff and her principal.

“This was only the second time I’ve been called to the principal’s office…the first time, I was in third grade,” she recalled. “She needed help creating columns and rows and by the time I knew it, I was being hired as a paraprofessional.”

Continuing to climb up the ranks at her school, she later became a secretary, running budgets, appraisals and memorizing budget binders.

Successfully fulfilling her job duties, her principal commented how Flores would make a great principal someday, giving her the motivation she needed to pursue just that.

She went on to teach, get a master’s degree and follow all the steps toward becoming a principal, and today she oversees the students of R. Cavazos Elementary with Mission Consolidated Independent School District.

“As principal I get to shapes kids’ lives,” she said. “That is sacred honor and a privilege for me. My goal for my students, my teachers, my staff, is that they never stop learning. I want them to fall in love with learning. I never thought I would be a teacher, much less a principal, but now that I’m here it is in fact, what I was always meant to do.”

In her role, her top priority is to expose students to new opportunities they may never get a chance to experience. Therefore, annually, her elementary school fundraises feverishly to ensure all their students, from Pre-K to fifth grade, get the end-of-year field trip they deserve.

“From fifth grade down to our little ones, they get a special field trip,” said Flores. “Our older children get to ride in a charter bus and go to places such San Antonio or Corpus Christi and our younger students stay in town, but do something just as fun. The kiddos work so hard and sometimes deal with a lot, this is the least we can do.”

Over the last few years, her students have visited Legoland, the Texas State Aquarium, the zoo and Disney on Ice and eat at locations such as the Rainforest Café, Chuck-E-Cheese and hibachi.

Flores said what she does isn’t only a job, it’s a passion and although she has achieved a lot, there’s still more to come.

“I would have never gotten this far without the education I received at STC. The college gave me what I needed to make something of myself, and now, I’m helping our students realize that they can also find success,” she said. “Everything we do for our students is something I hope I can eventually spread throughout our district as a superintendent.”